「The next morning.」
Zoe Pierce had figured she would be up early. Perhaps because she had already slept for the first half of the night, she was restless for the second. The moment she felt sunlight on her eyelids, she snapped awake.
But to her surprise, she was the only one still in the cave wrapped in a blanket. Everyone else was already up.
They were even busy with their own tasks.
'Good heavens, do they not need to sleep?'
They had all been awake when she went to sleep last night. Now that she was up, they looked like they had been for some time.
She let out a yawn, glanced around, and walked over to Chase Shaw's side. "Need any help?"
The fire at the mouth of the cave had burned out, leaving behind only a pile of sooty ash.
Chase Shaw had gathered more wood and built a new fire.
A small iron pot was now sitting over the flames.
Zoe Pierce glanced inside. It was full of a paste-like mush, probably from a can they had picked up from the supply crate at the checkpoint.
